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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29722515">Forever’s Not Enough</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnarchyPamda/pseuds/AnarchyPamda'>AnarchyPamda</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Dead Pyrrha Nikos, F/F, Murder Mystery, Returning Home, Trans Penny Polendina, Trauma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:08:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29722515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnarchyPamda/pseuds/AnarchyPamda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a decade of travel with the FBI Ruby Rose never expected to be returning home, but when long missing classmate Pyrrha Nikos’ dead body is found she comes back home to investigate. As the investigation grows she has to contact many of her former friends, and Ruby quickly becomes intimately aware of just how much her friends, her family and herself have changed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Forever’s Not Enough</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Named for Forever’s Not Enough by Soren Bryce, go give it a listen!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A frigid cold had hung onto the city of Atlas all throughout its history and when mixed together with the heavy shower season that lasted most of the year it was a place completely decked with snow nearly all the time. Despite the cold and the ice people still had to braved the city throughout the day for work or pleasure, but during the night all but the most desperate or rich held up to avoid the freezing nightly storms. One of those desperate souls was a woman in a red hoodie sat atop the hood of a car under the roof of a closed down gas station, chain smoking cigarettes as her primary source of warmth whilst her eyes scanned the edges of the darkness for something.</p><p> </p><p>Despite the occasional passer-by in their nice cars the woman’s intense eyes seemingly glossed over them without any form of acknowledgment, and as both the cars and sticks dwindled to near non-existence a motorcycle quickly pulled up next to her triggering an intense stare. Her eyes ran over the entirety of the biker’s form, decked out in full body black leather with a high collar running all the way up into their helmet as to give away no skin. She could read breasts on the front of the figure giving a leeway to gender but outside that fact she was simple guessing as to which agent was taking her package.</p><p> </p><p>“Emerald, that you?”</p><p> </p><p>The glorified silhouette didn’t react to her comment, not a word or movement to give away if her statement had any effect. The two held looks for a moment until the figure moved a hand to press their helmets controller, a voice distorted enough to not feel human, much less be recognisable, filtered through the helmet.</p><p> </p><p>“Report, Agent Rose.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s right here.”</p><p> </p><p>Agent Rose tossed over two manilla folders, both backups to the personal file in her car, the figure placing them in a small bag on their back and pulling out a black mailing tube to turn the handoff into a trade.</p><p> </p><p>“Cool, been a while since I left Atlas.”</p><p> </p><p>The biker didn’t have a response for that as they revved the engine looking like they were going to disappear back into the white night, but as the seconds went by staring at Rose they stopped to break protocol this once.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re bleeding, hair partition.”</p><p> </p><p>The woman ran a hand up her face and into her hair matching an unnoticed trail of dried blood stained on her skin, feeling around and discovering a small unpatched gash on her head.</p><p><br/>
“It’s fine, I heal fast.” To prove her point she pulled up a small portion of her hoodie to reveal very recent scar tissue on her stomach.</p><p> </p><p>The figure stared at her for a moment before taking off on their motorcycle, Rose watching them disappear into the night before heading back inside of her car and throwing the engine on. As her car started up, she pulled the tube close to her face under the wavering light source of her final fading cigarette in search for a label with her next destination. Her breath hitched and her jaw unlocked as she read the label, the cigarette falling from her mouth as she failed to recover and process the name written on the tin.</p><p> </p><p>Patch. The small town she grew up in lying about two days south of her, and a place she hadn’t returned to since she graduated. It took her a moment to compose herself, and then another to not rip open the message to figure out what was being assigned to her before she moved out. When she was steady, she reached into her glove box to pull out an old flip phone with its battery and SIM pulled out, both quickly shoved back in to call the singular person on her speed dial.</p><p> </p><p>One ring and the line was open. “Ruby!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yang!”</p><p> </p><p>“Hay sis it’s been a while, what warrants the call?”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby bit down on her lip as she wracked her mind trying to remember the last time she’d called, figuring it had probably been at least a year. “Yang… look I’m sorry I’ve been busy with work okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“It was going to be two years in November since you called, no time for family?” November plus June made it nineteen months without a single check-in with any member of her family, a shallow ‘fuck’ playing on her breath she didn’t know if Yang had heard. </p><p> </p><p>“Not really, I’m a fed Yang and it’s busy work. You know how much of the year Qrow was out working.”<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Qrow either called or came home for every birthday and holiday… and I’ve been lonely all by myself at home.”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby released a small chuckle into the receiver as she remembered the jokingly antagonistic sibling roles she lost reference to a long time ago, worry herself in the back of her mind over her inability to read how much of Yang’s annoyance was genuine. </p><p> </p><p>“Really? Dad, Qrow, all our childhood friends not enough to keep you entertained?”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe you have me there, but you’re my only sister, and I don’t like you disappearing without a trace for so long. Even Qrow couldn’t figure out if you were okay or not.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry about that but that’s what happens when you retire, also, you’ll know where I am for a bit cause… I’m going to be visiting soon.”</p><p> </p><p>“Really?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is it about Pyrrha?”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby was taken aback for a moment at the mention of that name, eyes focused on the mail tube in her lap. “What about Pyrrha?”</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t know?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, what happened?”</p><p> </p><p>“They found her body a few days ago; I don’t really know more than that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh… that’s uh… closure for her family, I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… always hoped she’d come back one day but it was probably too much to ask.”</p><p> </p><p>They took a moment of silence in remembrance of their long-lost friend. Pyrrha Nikos, the popular girl at their high school on account of her natural athletic ability, who disappeared a few nights before graduation and in spite of the best efforts from the town’s search parties, they never found her or a body which drove the case cold years ago. The lightly kindled siblings’ spirit was quickly taken by that cold, words speeding up to get out of the call and back to work as quickly as possible</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck, I’ll be there in a day or two, I have a room at the house?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, that hasn’t changed.”</p><p> </p><p>“Cool, see you then.”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby ended the call and disabled the phone again, tossing the parts back into the glovebox and letting out a long sigh. She focused on the mail tube one again, fully aware that protocol was simply a matter of trusting instruction and that no one was going to be able to prove she’d disobeyed if she simply looked at the contents now. Still, she struggled through her own thoughts on the matter and never gave the tube the last bit of force to break in into pieces, less to her own restraint and more to aggressively tossing the thing to the passenger floorboards to take the choice out of her hand. She leaned into her chair and slowly pulled the side lever to lay it down into a flat position, intent to sleep the trepidation out of her mind before she committed to something she’d regret.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Yang put down her phone and looked across the room to the woman cleaning up dinner in her kitchen, vaguely hoping she’d have a look of anger on her face but simply being given the much worse look of deep disappointment. The black-haired girl moved through the room to to sit down next to Yang, interlocking their hands and looking into her eyes to try and comfort her girlfriend.</p><p> </p><p>“So, you didn’t tell her?”</p><p> </p><p>“…it didn’t come up Blake.”</p><p> </p><p>“That was an amazing time to tell her without question though.”</p><p> </p><p>Blake and Yang had been dating for nearly four years at this point and whilst they’d told nearly the whole of their families combined about their relationship, they hadn’t broken the news to Yang’s younger sister Ruby. Originally it was on account that she wasn’t around, so it didn’t come up, but when Blake came to her first family thanksgiving approaching two years ago no one mentioned Blake to Ruby when she made her phone check-in. After a small fight about Yang hiding her away, they worked out a small deal, Yang would call, and they’d get introduced but simply lie about how long they’d been together as to make it seem like they hadn’t been keeping the truth hidden for two years. Ruby never picked up the phone however, nor did she make any more seasonal check-ups after that Thanksgiving leaving them in an ever-lengthening state of Ruby not knowing.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve been so confident with this before, why are you so nervous about telling Ruby you’re gay?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know, I, eh.”</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t even second guess telling your dad and uncle, you made a trip out of telling and impressing my parents; what’s so different about Ruby.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t fucking know Blake it just, something about it is different.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is it about that thing you said?” Yang gave a curious glance at Blake, somewhat hoping her more literary girlfriend could articulate her thoughts in her place, “the ‘you’re my only sister’ line, she matters more to you than anyone else and you don’t wanna risk losing her?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not really, I’m not really scared she’ll reject me. Ruby’s good people, the kinda person you know is always gonna be loyal, like ‘I killed a man and need help hiding the body’ kinda loyal, y’know?”</p><p> </p><p>Blake bit down on her lip from nerves and leaned her head onto Yang’s shoulder, a singular logic path forming in her head as to what the problem was. “Do you think she won’t like me?”</p><p> </p><p>“What? No! You’re amazing, never say that.” Yang wrapped her arms around Blake, pulling them as close together as possible and having Blake rest in the crook of her shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s just, if you’re so sure she’ll still love you the only reason to be scared is if she’s going to reject someone else, so me.” A small waver accompanied Blake’s voice, not too concerning, but just present enough to worry. </p><p> </p><p>“Blake you’re amazing; you’re smart, you’re talented, you’re a good detective, you can read…” Yang got a chuckle out of that one, Blake pulling her head slightly up from inside her shoulder in the process giving Yang space to plant a small kiss on her girlfriend’s forehead, “you are so good and she’s going to love you so much.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, good people like I said.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm, so, what’s left?”</p><p> </p><p>Yang raced for a point to clear the air, landing on something that didn’t feel right but it was at least a small piece of what she was feeling. “Uh… I guess, I think… without a wedding, without kids, which as has been true for years I am deeply good with, but without anything but loving you for the rest of my life this is our last milestone and I’m scared to be out of goals.”</p><p> </p><p>Blake pulled out of the embrace to look back in Yang’s face with a slightly nervous look still on her face, Blake calming herself and pulling a small smirk over her face moving the conversation to a better tone.  “I mean it isn’t the last milestone, there’s still butt stuff and you’re mother.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow you’re really good at making breaking up the easy option.”</p><p> </p><p>“If you can make jokes, I can make jokes, and if you break up with me so you don’t have to tell your sister you’re gay I’m going to track her down and show her naked pictures of us.”</p><p> </p><p>“Please stop talking about sex and my family members in the same breath you don’t understand how much that upsets me, and I was talking about the other problem.”</p><p> </p><p>“What other problem?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh right… so, Ruby is getting a break from work and coming to visit.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yang, when would that be exactly?”</p><p> </p><p>Yang pulled further away from Blake expecting the other woman was going to be yelling in her face in just a moment. “She said it would be a day or two.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re sister, who to remind you has not returned to town in a decade and does not know I exist, is going to be in our house in two days.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep.”</p><p> </p><p>“Give me your phone.”</p><p> </p><p>“She’s not going to pick up.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s been three minutes.”</p><p> </p><p>“You said that at thanksgiving and then she didn’t pick up for two years.”</p><p> </p><p>“Shush, phone.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, okay.” Yang pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it over to her girlfriend fully confident in the fact Ruby wasn’t going to be on the other end, and sure enough Blake was instantly thrown to the answering machine.</p><p> </p><p>“Why does your sister always turn off her phone.”</p><p> </p><p>“Feds are weird? I think Qrow did the same before he retired, don’t remember to well.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmm, if she called from her personal phone and she shuts that off when working she must have a work number.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, and?”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, so active investigation no details, but I got a call from the FBI about the body we found so I might be able to call back that line and get your sister’s work number.”</p><p> </p><p>“You really going through that much effort to call my sister a few hours sooner.”</p><p><br/>
“Probably not but I don’t want to deal with the surprise girlfriend-sister conversation when she show’s up.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, that’s gonna be something. God I never thought she’d actually come back to town.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why wouldn’t she?”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s a lot of a story, you wanna hear it?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’d love to know more about your sister.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay she’s two years younger than me, but she tested up past first and third to end up in my class, so we moved out at the same time. Now Ruby looks up to Qrow so much she modelled her whole life off him, including her wanting to join the FBI like him, and he helped her get into their program or whatever when she graduated.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay but didn’t you say Qrow came home for holidays before he retired.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m getting there, catching my breath, plotting the details. Ok I’m still getting settled at school and Ruby’s in basic training, so we get a nice family group call in for that first thanksgiving after graduation. First Christmas I come home, and they call for like five minutes, which isn’t surprising Qrow did the same all our lives it’s a busy time for them.”</p><p> </p><p>Another pause for a breath and to form thoughts, this time not interrupted by her girlfriend.</p><p> </p><p>“Rest of the year was birthdays and that’s when things started to change, schedules were a lot more complicated without holidays so people would call early or late or never and always by themselves just as they were available. That attitude spread to the major holidays, but I didn’t think about it till the thanksgiving after graduation when I moved back home, and Ruby was the only one missing. I kinda assumed after basic training she started coming by whilst I was stuck at school, but she hadn’t returned once and her calls to everyone where about in line with what’s been going on these last years. I came to figure something happened that was making her stay away, so we weren’t going to see her for a long time; like what happened with Raven and her PTSD.”</p><p> </p><p>“I mean sometimes I sleep at the station cause I saw something on the job that hurt my soul, and I’m sheriff for a small district where barely anything happens. Feds see the worst of the country on the daily and that could be really bad for Ruby, if the issue has been scheduling this whole time that’s a sign she’s doing doing well.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s… I feel both comforted and pissed off if that’s the truth. I love thinking she’s okay but if that’s true I don’t like what it says for her behaviours.”</p><p> </p><p>“I mean Qrow’s is a barely recovering alcoholic and Raven left you for twenty years, she’s still the best cop in your family.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re the best cop in my family.” Yang leaned in to give Blake a quick peck, “I’m gonna move some boxes out of Ruby’s room before going to bed so don’t stay up for me, kay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Kay, love you, goodnight.”</p><p> </p><p>“Love you.”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Mantle’s Security Intelligence Series and Vale’s Federal Bureau of Investigation possessed a small joint office towards the southern end of the capital city, and as two women in Mantle military uniforms wandered the halls, they found the place completely empty. Four officers were supposed to be stationed in the complex, two from Mantle and the other two from Vale, but only two hours beforehand Mantle Special Agent Tortuga’s dead body turned up mauled in the slums. Originally a low-level officer had been sent in order to deliver the news and take statements regarding Special Agent Tortuga’s activities before their death, but finding the door busted open and blood splattered onto the glass they had called in people more qualified to deal with a potentially hostile situation.</p><p> </p><p>Hand-picked by the General were Special Agent Penny Polendia, a woman who had very literally served with everything she had in her career as evident by her three prosthetic limbs, and Colonel Winter Schnee, a heiress who had proven herself, in spite of that title, worthy of the praise of her regiment and the rumour she was set to become the General upon Ironwoods retirement. Both had holstered their weapons since entering the building as the scuff-up at the front seemed to be the only issue with the office from what they had seen, and upon entering the bullpen finding the unsurprising fact that all of the members of the unity were MIA.</p><p> </p><p>For a moment the two-woman wandered around the room; Winter with her proper clearance checking the desks and files of the office and Penny left to analyse the rest of the room for any clues, and as Special Agent Polendina concluded her analysis without bearing fruit she turned to the commander for her assessment.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you believe them all to be dead?”</p><p> </p><p>As Penny stood awaiting a response Winter ignored her to sit down at one of the desk and log into their computer, Penny averting her eyes from the screen in a move that was personally more respecting of the agents privacy than the simple fact she legally wasn’t allowed to. Winter focused her eyes onto the nameplate sitting on the desk, standing and turning to face Penny with a look that combines more emotions than she thought her temporary commander was capable of experiencing.</p><p> </p><p>“Not likely.”</p><p> </p><p>“That is a relief.”</p><p> </p><p>“Tame your excitement, I’d imagine Tortuga was killed here given the blood, and then dumped in the slums where wild dogs mauled the body. Which would likely mean that one of the agents in this office killed them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, do you have a suspicion as to which one.” Penny’s voice was wavering nervously as she spoke.</p><p> </p><p>“Agen… Penny, sit down for a moment?” She made her way to a chair and Winter pulled up another to sit across from her, taking up her hands in a motion to both connect them and comfort the younger girl. “Agent Rose is lacking any personal files from her desk. Her car’s GPS is registering her in Vale. Now obviously there are many reasons as to why those things would be true, but a direct conclusion would be she fled the country and took her personal effects after k-”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think she could kill someone!”</p><p> </p><p>Penny’s scolding for talking over her commander was cut off by Winter’s phone ringing, the Colonel standing back up and turning her back before answering the call.</p><p> </p><p>“General Ironwood… understood, and Agent Rose? … understood … are you- … yes sir.”</p><p> </p><p>“What did he have to say?”</p><p> </p><p>“The two missing agents made contact twenty minutes ago and just exited questioning.”</p><p> </p><p>“Two missing agents?”</p><p> </p><p>“Agent Rose was redeployed to Vale yesterday, and therefore is not missing nor of our concern.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well that is splendid, even if I wish she stayed to say goodbye.”</p><p> </p><p>“She has more important places to be, and so do you for that matter. The investigation has been closed, report to your commanding officer.”</p><p> </p><p>“But what about-” Winter turned her head to cast a look ending Penny’s question, one-half understanding and one-half anger. “Yes, Ma’am.”</p><p> </p><p>Winter began to leave the building expecting Penny to be behind her, but the redhead instead pulled her phone from her pocket and dialled the single personal number in it.</p><p> </p><p>“Hay Penny what’s up?”</p><p> </p><p>“A case just got reassigned and I wanted to ask you to dinner, it has been a few weeks since we hung out.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, um, this is awkward. A friend of mine from high school was found dead.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh no that is terrible.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not as much as you’d think, she went missing a decade ago and we kinda all figured she was dead, so it’s giving closer to everyone.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh. That is, nice?”</p><p> </p><p>“I honestly have no idea what to feel about it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you getting closure?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I think. Pyrrha wasn’t the first person I lost but she was the first that I actually knew and I didn’t know how to deal with that so I just didn’t. Never really tried to apply the agencies’ grief training to those memories but I think they worked in the back of my mind so all that I can get now is closure.”</p><p> </p><p>“You do not sound sure of yourself, do you- ” Penny stopped for a moment and bit down on her lip, unsure if what she was going to say was rude or not. “Do you want me to come with you.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, no, no, I’ll be back in Atlas soon and we can do some friend stuff.”</p><p> </p><p>“Helping friends in their time of need is the pinnacle of friend stuff.”</p><p> </p><p>“Penny I swear I’m fine.”</p><p> </p><p>“If you need something I need to be there for you, that’s what friends do.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not the only person in your life.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re my only friend.”</p><p> </p><p>“You should make new friends… but, you could do that in Patch.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t need you to comfort me but I wouldn’t mind a buffer.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wonderful, are we heading out together or…?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well I kinda bolted home when I heard the news so I’m already over the border. Fly in and go to a place call Crowbar in Patch, it’s my uncle’s he’ll put you up till I get there. Tell him Oz sent you, and that I told you to say that when he gets a look on his face.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oz?”</p><p> </p><p>“My boss at the FBI, he’ll get a kick out of it, they’re old friends.”</p><p> </p><p>“Alright then, how far out are you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Drives another twenty I think… so oh-five-hundred hours, you spend the night at the bar and I wake you up when I get there?”</p><p> </p><p>“But you won’t have slept for twenty hours, plus however long you’ve been driving.”</p><p> </p><p>“I have to drive across two countries professionally, operating on low sleep is my entire job.”</p><p> </p><p>“We aren’t working Ruby, and nothing will be happening at five in the morning.”</p><p> </p><p>“Pen I don’t wanna…” Ruby bit down on her lip and dragged herself to a stop, images from last night’s nightmares which woke her up reinforcing her desire to stay awake. “I’ve got night terrors again.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh okay, hmm, can you take a nap at least?”</p><p> </p><p>“Penny-”</p><p> </p><p>“Wake me up and I’ll look after you; make sure you don’t sleep long enough to start dreaming, I can hold you if it’ll make you feel safer. Please?”</p><p> </p><p>“Will that make you happy?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay fine I’ll take a stupid nap.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course.” <em>Love you. </em></p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Been a hot minute since I’ve written anything I liked enough to publish but it’s good to be back, even if I’m not really happy with everything in here. See you soon for the awkward family reunion.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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